Winds of Change
by darthmiraak
Summary: new summary will be up soon, for those of you who read and enjoy this story, it's going under a massive rewrite as I have to cover some discrepancies and some mistakes. Any War Renewed chapters will be taken down and moved up as the first actual arc will the Dawnguard questline. so, once this is finished I hope more people enjoy this story.
1. Chapter 1

Winds of Change Chapter 1

I looked around the large cavern I was in, it was massive with some old crumbling ruins in the center that reminded me somewhat of one of the old arenas. I crouched down and went to the edge of the balcony like area I was at and looked over to see a Vigilant of Stendarr being questioned by two vampires. I pulled out my crossbow and loaded it. I aimed as best as I could at the leader of the vampires in Dimhollow, a man named Lokil. Slowing down my breathing, I fired but just as my bolt hit the beast in the back of the neck and killed him, the Vigilant died.

I swore under my breath and drew my sword, an ebony longsword named Yol Do Bromen Dovah and ran down the steps two at a time as the other vampire and her thrall noticed me and rushed at me. I parried a blow from the female vampires steel war axe and slashed her stomach quickly before kicking her down and stabbing her in the heart. The thrall, enraged at his mistresses' death, rushed at me hungry for blood and blinded by rage. He swung his battle-axe at me and I dodged quickly before swinging my blade at him, hoping to end the fight quickly, I was wrong however as the brutish thrall blocked my attack with the shaft of his battle-axe and I stumbled. "By fucking Sheogorath," I thought, "this brute is smarter than I thought." He swung his axe at me again and I ducked before stabbing upward though his stomach and out his back with my sword. Once I was sure he was dead, I pulled my blade out of him and wiped the blood off of it on Lokil.

I looked at the body of the Vigilant and sent up a quick prayer to the Divines for him and found a book. "Notes on Dimhollow" I read to myself and I put it in my pack, deciding to keep it. I looked around and saw something in the center of the circle, some sort of pedestal. I walked over to it and out of curiosity I put my hand on it and cried out in pain as some sort of spike shot through my hand. When it went down, I yanked my hand away and cast a quick healing spell. I noticed then, that the grooves in the floors that had circular holes in along then at equal distances, were glowing an eerie purple glow. I pushed the braziers to the holes till I found out the combination and a stone monolith-like coffin slid out of the ground as the circle became more like the old arenas. I stepped back surprised at the sight of this, then stepped up to it and put my hand on it and it the thing opened revealing a stunning sleeping woman who opened her eyes, which were orange and red glowing hues. "Wait… orange and red? She's a bloody vampire" I thought as she stood up.

"Who are you?" she asked slowly and I looked at her, still shocked "I'm V-Vladimir Ebonfire" I said.

"I'm Serana," she said "who sent you?"

"A man named Isran" I said slowly

"Is he l-like me?" Serana asked

"Well… not really, he leads a group of vampire hunters known as the 'Dawnguard' and I'm one of them…" I said slowly "but I won't kill you, I only kill what tries to kill me first and since you haven't tried to kill me I won't attempt to kill you."

She nodded and sighed "I guess we should get out of here."

I nodded and looked around and noticed another bridge, I went over it and heard shattering.

"What in the name of-"I shouted but before I could finish the monster lunged at me and knocked me back. I got up and drew my crossbow and loaded it as quickly as I could and aimed at the beast and let the bolt fly. The bolt hit it in the shoulder and it staggered back, stunned. I took advantage of the momentary lapse in the things concentration to drive my sword through its head. I looked over and saw Serana shoot ice spikes through the other one finally killing it.

I looked at her, "what in the name of the Nine were those things?" I asked her slightly shocked and slightly irritated.

"Gargoyles," she said "magical constructs that vampires use to guard their lairs or artifacts and the like"

"Makes sense," I muttered "the Dwemer have their animunculi, though the Dwemer are well, extinct."

We walked up a ledge till we came to an old stone arch common to ancient Nordic ruins. I pushed open the door and held it open for her.

"Such a gentleman" she said sweetly but with a slightly sarcastic tone to her voice

I laughed and closed the door behind me and realized we were in pitch blackness as she cast a candlelight spell and drew her elven dagger. I drew my blade and walked behind her until we came to an area that reminded me exactly of the imperial arena in the Imperial City. There was a large fire pit with a grate over it in the center, burnt corpses littered the ground on the grate and several thrones with dead, well hopefully dead, draugr on them. I sighed and saw near some thrones on the far side of the room, a word wall. We walked down the path towards the area and heard the groaning, usually associated with the awakening of the draugr.

I groaned out loud, I absolutely hate draugr, they were stubborn as fuck and it pisses me off. I sighed and looked at Serana before drawing my sword and rolling my shoulder a few times and walked to the draugr. She followed and shot an ice spike towards one as I slashed it across the chest and then slammed my sword into its neck killing it. A Deathlord appeared and smacked Serana back. I glared at it and let my Thu'um loose on the draugr.

"Fus Ro Dah!" I shouted sending the draugr flying back. I ran over to Serana and hoped that she was alive. I noticed that she slightly breathing and I sighed, relieved that she was still alive. I killed the draugr one by one and picked her up and carried her out of the crypt after learning the word on the wall and walked down the path and found an overhang as it was dawn and I didn't want her turning to ash on me. I actually I cared about her, probably because she still seemed sane and still had a grasp on her humanity. Doesn't help that she's breathtakingly beautiful, I sighed and lit a fire and rolled out my bedroll and laid her on it. I pulled out some cold venison and rabbit haunches and heated them on a metal plate by the fire.


	2. Chapter 2

Winds of Change Chapter 2

Seranas POV

I woke up to Vladimir sitting on a boulder outside the overhang, it was just now evening from the look of things but I wasn't sure. I noticed he was sharpening his sword with a whetstone and was looking out at the land, watching what he could see like a hawk. I sat up and he looked at me.

"Finally, you're awake." He said and I nodded "what time is it?" I asked slowly and he looked out at the horizon then the ground at the shadows before replying

"I have no idea, honestly. Maybe around early evening or late afternoon at best."

I nodded and sat up as he tossed me a bottle of blood and I looked at him quizzically

"Don't ask how I got that, let's just say that some nearby bandits are scared to Oblivion and back and won't come near us after a few disappeared out of nowhere." He chuckled and I looked at him shocked before shrugging and I yawned. Vladimir sheathed his sword before grabbing his armor and pulling it on.

"If you want to stay nice and beautiful, Serana. I thought it would be better to travel at night." He said looking down at me. I blushed slightly and nodded "That sounds good." I said. He nodded and put out the fire as the sun began to set. He gathered his pack and we set out.

"So where is this home of yours, Serana?" he looked at me and asked

"It's on a small island near the High Rock- Skyrim border."

"How in the name of Shor are we supposed to get to it?" he asked before the realization hit him "Oh… boats, forgot about boats." He muttered and I chuckled

He shot me a dirty look and I laughed even more as we made our way to Dawnstar to get a boat to take us to Solitude. Once we got to Solitude, the owner of the boat that we could take to the Icewater Jetty wouldn't take us until Vladimir dropped a hefty pouch of septims into the man's hand. The man's eyes glinted with greed as he eagerly agreed to take us as close to the castle as possible. Vladimir nodded and helped me into the boat, I blushed again and hoped he didn't see it.

Vladimirs POV

I looked up at the large decrepit castle looming over us, the large bridge with its gargoyles on it, and as we walked over it I was mentally freaking out that they could come out of their shells at any moment and slaughter us. I was snapped out of my thoughts as Serana put her hand on my forearm

"Hey, before we go in there…" she said

"What is it? Are you okay?" I asked

"I'm fine, I think. Thanks for asking," She said "I just wanted to thank you for getting me this far, once we go inside leave the talking to me… I know your friends would want to kill everyone inside but I hope you can show a little restraint in there."

I nodded and quickly assured her that I have much more common sense than the others. We walked along the bridge, I kept my hand on the hilt of my blade just in case the gargoyles would pop out and attack. Once we reached the gates, or rather portcullis, of the castle a man saw Serana. He was probably a thrall or something as his eyes didn't glow the way vampiric eyes did. As I was thinking to myself he shouted something and the rumbling of the portcullis being drawn up into the gatehouse snapped me out of my thoughts.

Serana looked at me in the eyes and walked in. I followed her and we walked into the castles main hall. An Altmer vampire looked at us

"How dare you trespass here," he snarled before noticing Serana "Lady Serana, is that really you?" he sounded stunned and I repressed an urge to laugh. I know it's probably been centuries, but how do you forget what a woman like Serana looks like? I shook my head as the man led us down stairs to the throne room and dining area was at.

At the sight of what was going on, I nearly vomited. I had seen a lot of things in my time as an adventurer but this… this was horrible. All along the tables were piles of bloody bones, chunks of human flesh, and human "cattle" with vampires sitting in front of them. I repressed the bile and listened as Serana and her father argued. However I only caught the tail end of the argument

"…. Now tell me, who is this stranger you have brought into our hall?" her father asked and Serana looked at me and then him "This is my savior, the one who freed me."

"For my daughter's safe return, you have my gratitude. Tell me, what is your name?" the man asked and I stepped forward "I'm Vladimir, and you are?" I asked hesitantly and the man chuckled a bit.

"I am Harkon, lord of this court. By now, my daughter will have told you what we are." He said rather smugly and I fought back the urge to plant my sword in his head. I sighed and looked at him

"You're vampires." I said and he still looked smug at that "Not just vampires. We are among the oldest and most powerful vampires in Skyrim. For centuries we lived here, far from the cares of the world. All that ended when my wife betrayed me and stole away that which I valued most." He said and I shrugged "what happens now?"

He turned towards me "you have done me a great service, and now you must be rewarded. There is but one gift I can give that is equal in value to the Elder Scroll and my daughter. I offer you my blood. Take it, and you will walk as a lion among sheep. Men will tremble at your approach and you will never fear death again."

I laughed softly "as tempting as your offer sounds _Lord_ Harkon, I am a werewolf and I would rather not change that. I refuse your gift." I snarled looking the vampire lord in the eyes.

"So be it! You are prey like all mortals! I banish you from my court, never to return!" he roared as he summoned magicka in his palm.


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke on the shores of the island that Castle Volkihar was situated on. I looked over the bridge and was tempted to go back in, but my better judgment took hold of me and I walked slowly, as I was sore, to the rowboat moored to the dock. I untied the mooring rope from the dock and got into the boat. I quickly downed a stamina potion to help me not be so sluggish and started rowing. I reached the Icewater Jetty by night fall and I grabbed my pack and looked for a place to set up camp, preferably away from the Thalmor at Northwatch Keep. I couldn't stand the Thalmor at all, self-righteous supremacist pricks. They were worse than the Stormcloaks. I found a small rocky overhang a bit south-east of Northwatch Keep and Icewater Jetty. I sat my pack down and gathered some dead wood that was nearby. Once I got a fire going I rolled out my bedroll and heated up some beef to eat.

After eating ravenously as I was quite hungry, I laid down on my bedroll as a storm raged outside the overhang. The pattering of the rain made it quite easy for me to fall asleep.

_ I looked around at the ruins of my home, Lakeview Manor, on the shores of Lake Ilinalta. The ruins were smoking, the fire had died down but it was still going strong enough that I was almost choking on the smoke. Dead bodies were laying around, several vampires, their thralls, and death hounds included. My steward Faendal was also dead. I looked over at my housecarl, Rayya. _

_ "Rayya, get over to Falkreath. Stay back in the Jarls Longhouse until I come get you to come back here." I said and she nodded and started off down the main road towards Falkreath. I went to work and pulled the bodies of the vampires, their thralls, and the death hounds into a pile after looting them of any gold. "YOL" I shouted and the bodies caught fire like dry kindling. As the corpses burned, I grabbed a shovel from the garden area and started to dig a grave for Faendal. Once the grave was dug to a reasonable depth I made him a crude casket and set him in it. I lowered the casket into the ground and found a decent sized smooth stone from the river. After carving a small epitaph into the stone and setting it at the grave, I picked up my pack._

_ I had heard some guards down in Falkreath talking about the Dawnguard. I decided to go there and join up. I sighed and saddled my horse. "Fort Dawnguard, here I come" I muttered, my breath clouding the air in front of me in the frigid winter air. I rode off to the east to go and find the Dawnguard to join up. _

I woke up in the morning to find that the storm had let up and while the sky was still overcast, it was no longer storming and I yawned as I got up. Hopefully I get to Solitude by the end of the day. I started out and stopped as I was nearing the Thalmor embassy when I heard the all too familiar roar of a dragon above me. I drew my sword and tilted my head where the dragon was hovering above me.

"JOOR ZAH FRUL!" I shouted and my thu'um struck the dragon full-force causing a bluish-white aura to appear around the dragon. The dragon roared out in pain and flew up the road a bit before landing. I ran after it and found it terrorizing a mercenary. I laughed as the mercenary, a mage by the looks of him, threw up a ward to block the blasted dragon fire. I ran at the dragon and slashed its wings, at the tender tendons at the joint and it roared out in pain. I sheathed my sword as it tried to take off and pulled out my crossbow and nocked a bolt to it. I aimed and fired and hit the same joint I had slashed with my sword. Roaring out in pain again, it flew east a bit before crashing. I ran, the mercenary looking shocked, towards the where the dragon crashed. I pulled my sword out again and walked towards it slowly.

"YOL TOOR" the dragon shouted at me, I stepped out of the way quickly. My cloak got singed but I shrugged it off as I approached the wounded dragon. I gripped my sword to the point that my knuckles were white and as it went to bite me, I stabbed upward the ebony sinking into its flesh easily as a hot knife through butter. I pulled my sword out quickly as the dragon's mouth slammed shut and it went limp. I walked out away and down the path as I felt the soul of the deceased dragon go into me. By the time I reached Solitude it was nearing night and the guards were preparing to close the gates until morning. One of them spotted me coming and made sure the gates were still open so I could go through. I thanked the guard and tossed him a small coin pouch and I went to the Winking Skeever, Solitudes most well-known inn, but definitely not the only inn as down alley-ways and in seedy side streets were other less known and rougher inns.

I sat at the bar of the inn and sighed. By the Nine, it was a rough day and night. I looked at Corpulus Vinius, the Imperial owner of the inn.

"Hello, Corpulus." I said grinning a bit, remembering the story behind the name of the inn.

"Hello, Vladimir. What can I get you?" he asked

I thought about it for a moment and ordered some beef stew, some ale, and a room for the night. I turned over the required number of septims and waited as the food came. The local bard, a woman named Lisette began to sing _The Dragonborn Comes. _I listened as she sang and drank my ale.

_ Our hero, our hero, claims a warrior's heart._

_ I tell you, I tell you, the Dragonborn comes._

_ With a voice wielding power of the ancient Nord art,_

_ Believe, believe, the Dragonborn comes._

_ It's an end to the evil, of all Skyrim's foes._

_ Beware, beware, the Dragonborn comes._

_ For the darkness has passed and the legend yet grows,_

_ You'll know, you'll know the Dragonborn comes._

The song generally gave me a headache after a while but to hear it tonight was rather refreshing. It showed that some people haven't forgotten what I did for them. Corpulus tapped me on the shoulder and put a bowl of beef stew on the counter, I turned around and ate it greedily. I bid him goodnight and went up to the room I rented out. I closed and locked the door and put my pack down, I took off my tunic and yawned before falling onto the bed and closing my eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I woke up after a good night's rest in an actual bed and I pulled on my tunic and my armor. I grabbed my pack and left the room. I gave the key back to Corpulus and went out the door. I was presented by a sight of guards moving dead bodies. I sighed, I recognized the bodies as corpses of vampires and their thralls. I walked up to Captain Aldis.

"Captain, what happened here?" I asked as we both surveyed the carnage.

He looked at me after a while "Vampires. Came in the middle of the night and killed Octieve and Beirands wife," he sighed "tried to make it to the Palace but some patrols managed to spot the dead bodies and put two-and-two together and took them out. A few contracted the blasted disease and are currently at the Temple." I nodded and decided to help move the bodies. I counted the bodies as we moved them. Over a dozen vampires and their thralls and damn hounds had attacked while I was asleep. How did I not wake up? I asked myself and I sighed.

A few hours later, the bodies were moved and burned or buried. I walked out of the gates as my thoughts drifted to Serana… she may be a vampire but I haven't been able to get her off my mind at all. She wasn't like the vampires I had encountered so far, at all. I sighed and paid the carriage driver to take me to Riften. I had to get back to the Fort and tell Isran about what happened.

After a few days of travelling I was finally in in Dayspring Canyon. I looked around and walked up the winding path towards the massive fort in the distance, as I neared it however I heard screams. I quickly drew my sword and began to run, soon I found myself behind a crowd of vampires and their thralls. I swore under my breath before sucking in air and letting out my Shout, "YOL TOOR" I Shouted at the vampires. A few of the weaker vampires crumpled dead under the power of my Shout, while the stronger ones were just agitated. They turned to me and I pulled out my sword and held it ready to kill more of the damned beasts. I charged at them and stabbed one through the heart before it could react. I quickly ducked underneath the steel longsword of a Mistwalker and watched as Isran slammed his warhammer into the beasts' neck, killing it instantly. I looked around and saw Celan and Durak killing other vampires, the last ones that had attacked Fort Dawnguard.

I sighed and looked at Isran and explained to him quickly what I had learned.

"What do you mean they have an Elder Scroll?! You didn't try to take it from them?!" he snarled in anger. "Isran, I was outnumbered! Dozens of them and one of me! I may be Dragonborn but even those odds are overwhelming for me!" I snapped back equally angered. He calmed down and asked me to recruit some people; Gunmar and Sorine Jurard. I sighed and agreed to it after some rest.

**Authors Note: (for the fans of this story only) yeah, I know short chapter but I have a lot of stuff going on with college classes and registration for next quarter. This will be continued obviously till maybe Chapter 10 or Chapter 15**

**However, I hope anyone who reads this story (or any of my stories for that matter) enjoys it! **

**Ciao my friends!**


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